Only two tested positive after returning from Nepal, earlier figure of 19 due to technical error, says UP official
Nevertheless, the district administration is on alert and Covid desks have been at all entry points on the India-Nepal border in Bahraich district of Uttar Pradesh
Fresh sample tests of Bahraich residents who returned from Nepal indicated that only two of them tested positive for Covid -19 while a technical error had initially put their number at 19 earlier, officials said.
Bahraich district magistrate Dinesh Chandra said due to a technical error by the staff, the report of 19 people who returned from Nepal was mentioned as positive for SARS-CoV-2 (the pathogen that causes Covid-19 disease).
On Thursday, the fresh samples of all the 19 people were sent for laboratory tests and the report indicated that merely two people were positive. The two patients were admitted in the Covid ward of the district hospital, while the remaining 17 discharged, he said.
Nevertheless, the district administration is on alert and Covid desks have been set up at all the entry points on the Bahraich-Nepal border.
Along with the district health department, the district police and Sashastra Seema Bal (SSB) have set up such Covid desks to test the samples of people coming from Nepal. The Nepal government had also set up Covid desks on the border to test the samples of people going from India, he said.
During a Covid review meeting on Thursday, chief minister Yogi Adityanath had directed officials to sound an alert in the districts bordering Nepal and maintain vigil on people coming from the Himalayan nation.
Maharajganj district magistrate Ujjwal Kumar said the movement of people across the international border was minimal due to restrictions imposed by the Nepal and the Indian governments.
Only movement of cargo was permitted between both the countries and the people who entered UP with special permission were screened at Covid desks set up on the border, he said.
The district police and SSB were on alert, he said.
A state government official said the authorities in seven districts bordering Nepal — Pilibhit, Balrampur, Lakhimpur Kheri, Bahraich, Shravasti, Siddharthnagar and Maharajganj districts — were on alert following directions of the chief minister. The district administration officers were directed to screen all the people coming from Nepal for Covid-19, he said.